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Over the years, I’ve photographed nearly every sport there is, or at least it feels that way. One of the exceptions was surfing. Living in Pennsylvania and Minnesota, there weren’t exactly a lot waves around. For a while now, I’ve been hearing that the Rockaways right here in New York are a pretty popular surfing spot. Lo and behold, I learned there was a surfing competition yesterday morning so I grabbed my gear and decided to check it out. Two things I learned: 1) When standing on the jetty, no matter how close to the shore you are, you will get wet. 2) My 200mm wasn’t quite enough to get really good tight shots. I was able to capture a few decent images when one of the surfers would catch a wave fairly close. For the people who went farther out, a 300mm would have been better, or even a 2x. I’ll definitely be making another attempt at it in the future, though maybe waiting until the afternoon or evening so the sun isn’t rising behind them creating silhouettes everywhere…as dramatic as they might be.

I shot a fashion show the other night, and as with most things you try to get there early to make sure you have a good angle before all the choice spots are taken. Getting there early also means waiting. So of course I find ways to pass the time by looking for things to shoot. I was luck y to capture this walk through before they opened the doors.

For a while, I’ve been itching to shoot a footbridge at Brooklyn Bridge Park when at night to capture the lights. But a problem I kept facing is that the bridge as a trailbridge so it’s intentionally made to be flexible, in other words, it bounces when people walk. Cool concept, not so great for long exposures at night. A few weeks ago, it was cold and rainy and completely miserable outside. The kind of night you don’t go outside unless you absolutely have to, so it was the perfect night to capture the lights and skyline without having to try and time in between passers-by.

As I was down there, some serious fog rolled in up the East River. I hurried as quickly as I could before it dissipated and grabbed a couple shots with all it’s eerie effects.

A couple weeks ago, a friend was visiting from out of town and wanted to see the World Trade Center memorial site. I have to admit the site finds a nice balance between quiet respect and remembrance but still having signs of activity and energy.

Since we were meeting other friends later, I didn’t want to haul around my camera equipment, so this is all shot with my phone. I’m sorry for the low-quality, the lack of creative control on a phone can be quite limiting.

Wind showering the memorial in droplets blowing from the site’s waterfalls.

A single flower remains in the name of one of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks at the memorial site.

The World Financial Center (left) and One World Trade (right) stand in the background behind the names of victims at the World Trade Center memorial site.

One World Trade reflects in the windows of the still under-construction museum as people pass by.

I was going through and organizing some of the photos I’ve taken from the past year and realized I forgot to post a few I made at SummerStreets. The city closed quite a few blocks of Park Avenue to vehicle traffic, including the Park Avenue Tunnel that goes around/through Grand Central Station, opening it up to pedestrians only. It was a great chance to use natural light and finding views you rarely get to see unless you’re cruising through in a vehicle.

Despite having to work later in the day, I decided to get up early and head over to Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn to shoot some photos as the runners in the annual NYC Marathon traveled past. It’s always somewhat overwhelming to see the sheer number of participants filling a six-lane road and realize you’re watching tens of thousands of people running together. It’s a lot of fun to photograph, people get into it and some of the participants even dress up in costumes to run in. I saw everything from a banana to a few superheroes.

I find the marathon is also a good exercise to challenge myself to make interesting images from a fairly routine event. How many ways can you photograph a person or group of people running in a straight line, right? But there’s so much positive energy from the crowd, I often find it’s the people cheering on the runners that can make for good images.

Two runners pass in front of St. Michael’s Church on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn.

Lisa Stublic of Croatia, who would go on to finish 12th, crosses the five-mile mark on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn.

A volunteer hands out cups of water as a wave of runners passes by in the 2013 New York City Marathon.

A member of the crowd cheers on runners as she hold a “Run B*itches” sign at Mile 5 to encourage the participants.

A spectator holds an Irish flag as competitors in the New York City Marathon pass by.

A runner dressed in a “Marathon Man” costume runs along the marathon route in Brooklyn.

A volunteer holds cups of water as runners go by.

One downfall of the size of the event is with so much going on it becomes more difficult to pick out those singular moments that can make good images.

A runner takes a cup from a volunteer while making his way down 4th Avenue in Brooklyn near the Mile 5 marker of the 2013 New York City Marathon.

A runner carries a Chilean flag over his head as he runs in the New York City Marathon.

A runner records video as she runs along the marathon route in Brooklyn.

And just for fun, I decided to play around with some longer exposures. The colors the runners were wearing seemed like it could lead to really interesting results. I wasn’t disappointed.

Runners are a blur as they pass a volunteer handing out Vaseline.

Runners pass by piles of discarded cups along 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, as they cross the Mile 5 marker of the 2013 New York City Marathon.

A runner pauses along 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, to take photos as participants in the 2013 New York City Marathon pass by her.

Since I had the day off from work and the folks in Washington were no closer to an agreement that would re-open the government, I decided to set out early with my camera. Being that the government doesn’t close down all that often, I wanted to see what I could make images of. Living in New York City, there’s limited exposure to federal jobs that were affected, but the Statue of Liberty seemed like an obvious choice and provided the best opportunity for photos.

Tourists and passers-by take photos of the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park as the government shutdown restricted access to Liberty Island.

After wandering about Battery Park, I walked by the National Museum of the American Indian and over past Federal Hall. Neither of which presented much action, since the only sign of the shutdown were signs posted at the buildings. But those types of situations are what present the challenges that make you a better photographer. Taking the mundane and making a bit more interesting.

A sign on the stairs of the National Museum of the American Indian announces it is closed due to the federal government shutdown.